It took a cannonball
For God to get your attention,
To teach you what it is
To be a true knight --
A knight of Christ;
And so He guided you
In founding the Jesuit order,
And as the Light shone through
The colorful prism of your mind,
You discovered God’s goodness,
God’s truth, God’s beauty;
May your Spiritual Exercises
Draw us more deeply into
The Sacred Heart of Jesus,
To be intellectually illumined,
To be socially sympathetic,
To be aesthetically alive,
To be spiritually strong.
Whispered sweetly, Maria’s
“Yes” ripples and reverberates
Through the Halls of Heaven,
And the Spirit speeds through the
Atmosphere in a powerful pulse
Of gleaming, virginal white light
Into the humble House of Gold:
And, behold, The Divine Mercy is
Incarnate.
Trembling, I hid in your mantle, protected
From the dark night of unknowing;
You guided me up the steep, perilous path,
Towards the sparkling, starry heavens.
The demonic winds gusted, and with
Frightful ferocity thunder shook the air;
Serpentine lightning darted in the sky, and
Lava streams slithered down the slopes.
But then the Sun of God dazzlingly dawned,
And He put an end to the dark night;
Beams of bright light, both red and white,
Streamed soothingly into my soul.
Atop the summit, you took my hand,
And together we flew into the Light;
We laughed like merry little children,
Soaking in the sunshine of pure Mercy.
Inspired by Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
The divine
sense of humor
makes us laugh,
Without it,
life is just
lived to the half;
We are happy,
and we smile
with good cheer,
For the Lord’s
perfect love
casts out all fear.
The Holy Spirit
Is very much like
A sweet beautiful
Monarch butterfly,
Delightfully dancing
With indescribable joy,
Bobbing up and down,
And then to and fro,
Gliding calmly upon the
Sweet swirling breeze of
God the Father’s will and
Into the heart of Jesus.
Inspired by the writings of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
“Is life worth living?”
You wonder out loud;
For much of the time,
You’re lost in a crowd.
Life is worth living,
The bishop was right;
We find our mission,
And walk in the Light.
Gentle St. Mother Teresa
Said that Jesus came to her
In the distressing disguise
Of the poorest of the poor,
And, of course, she was right;
However, is it possible that
Jesus also comes to us
in the distressing disguise
Of the inconvenient,
Of the unexpected,
Of the cross?
I’m nothing more than
a hole in the ground,
and nobody notices me,
and I’m okay with that.
But when I receive the
Body of Christ, an invisible
spring of living water leaps
up out of my peaceful soul.
These crystal clear waters
of pure love surge upwards,
with unbounded freedom and joy,
praising the King of Heaven.
About you we really don’t know a ton,
Except that each of you was an Eastern son;
Why did you follow that big bright Star?
To bring the newborn King gifts from afar?
Maybe you were very humble,
Making Arrogance trip and stumble.
Did Baby Jesus teach you to love?
To know His peace from way up above?
The Babe in the manger was truly a sign,
Through whom you experienced mercy divine.
humility is
understanding
that i am nothing more
than a bag of bones
who recognizes The Truth.
I am weary,
my eyes bleary;
I drag around,
without a sound;
I have no home,
so off I roam;
I beg for food,
my shoes are glued;
on the mend,
I seek a friend.
“I just don’t get
Why Catholics
Even bother with
Talking to the saints:
I always speak directly
To Jesus when I pray.”
“But, my dear friend,
Although He doesn’t
Need to go through others,
It delights Him to do so:
We saints know better than
Anyone that we are merely
Ambassadors of Christ --
Yes, Jesus is truly the
Great God of Generosity,
But, even more, He is
The Great Lord of Humility.
This equation is like a golden key,
That will certainly set our spirits free;
Prayer prepares the soul for God’s holy gifts,
While surrender cleanses and also sifts;
These open the door to true heartfelt love,
Which only comes from the good God above;
When love is tested in the deep dark night,
In the morn it shines as mercy so bright.
The more I grasp,
The more the stars
Slip through my fingers;
But the more I surrender,
The more the stars shine,
Reflecting the Light.
We must avoid the
stale cookies of selfishness,
for they crumble
into complaints;
but with the Eucharistic
bread of thanksgiving,
we can then live like
the holy saints.
You were the first bishop of Jerusalem,
And were known as James the Just,
Since you were a relative of Jesus,
People knew that you they could trust;
Your knees thickened like a camel’s,
From all your time kneeling in prayer,
You had a long beard and lots of hair,
And you always treated people fair.
The Jewish leaders failed with St. Paul,
So they turned their ire towards you,
Their raging revenge was out of control,
And their delirious desire grew;
They wanted to crush the New Way,
So they pursued you like angry apes,
Christians were sprouting up everywhere,
Like vineyards full of plenteous grapes.
You bravely refused to reject the Christ,
So they threw you from the temple’s pinnacle,
Their grotesque expressions were ghastly,
As they chose to be stubbornly cynical;
Then they hurled jagged stones at you,
And with a mallet broke your bones,
But you uttered prayers for your attackers,
In between your painful groans.
You steadfastly served the Lord,
And were famous for physical healing,
You happily sought out holiness,
And spent much time prayerfully kneeling;
In a foreign land you were beaten to a pulp,
Until you were door-nail dead,
But it wasn’t satisfying enough,
So your murderers lopped off your head;
Now you wear a martyr’s golden crown,
And live in Heaven’s perennial jubilation,
Interceding for the Church Militant,
You help it become a new creation.
Inspired by the writing of St. Francis de Sales
Why are trifles
So important to us?
What’s really all
The big fuss?
They can often
Infatuate our hearts,
Slowly infecting us,
Like poison darts.
Our desire subtly
Grows and grows,
As we are gradually
Mastered by our foes.
Trifles can turn into treasures,
And treasures into troubles.
Inspired by the writing of St. Francis of Assisi
Our Father;
Abba! Daddy!
Who art in Heaven;
You are Beauty!
Hallowed be thy name;
You are Goodness!
Thy kingdom come;
You are Joy!
Thy will be done;
You are Love!
On earth as it is in Heaven;
You are the Light!
Give us this day our daily bread;
You are the Bread of Life!
And forgive us our trespasses;
You are Divine Mercy!
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
You are Divine Wisdom!
And lead us not into temptation;
You are the Good Shepherd!
But deliver us from evil;
You are the Savior of the World!
When liberty is
divorced from responsibility,
it dreadfully descends in a
dizzying death spiral of
selfishness.
But when liberty
is married to responsibility,
it courageously spirals upward
in a heroic flight of
freedom.